The Problem Is Getting There
by the one ring to rule them all
Summary: Percy and Annabeth have been friends forever and it's stayed that way, until now. Annabeth suspects she may have feelings for Percy. She thinks their friendship can last, but does Percy? And then comes the problem of actually getting to the next level with him. Percy Jackson AU with no demigods.
1. Problems

"The problem started a couple of years ago." Annabeth began to explain. "I had just graduated that day and Percy and I were at some party. We had come late because we grabbed some apple pie from my favorite diner. That apple pie was _so good_, it was crispy on the outside and-" Annabeth stopped talking when she realized that Piper was giving her the death stare.

"Stop trying to get off topic" Piper scolded, "go back to the party"

"okay okay." Said Annabeth defensively "Sorry it was just really good pie!" Piper rolled her eyes

"Just get back to the story" she said

"Where was I again?"

"Late for the party" Piper prompted

"Right, so we got to the party late and by then everyone seemed either too drunk to talk to or they were too busy hooking up to notice us. But Lizzie, the girl who invited us, really wanted us to come. I guess I figured the party would be really boring so I got Percy to come with me. Somehow we ended up sitting on the front porch really really drunk, looking at the stars, and talking about pie. It was great, that's normal stuff for us, but then Percy's stupid ex-girlfriend came outside making out with another guy. I could feel Percy stiffen up next to me and so to make him feel better I did what my drunken self thought was best at the time, which was throwing my empty beer can at them." Piper's eyes widened "Wow, you must have been really drunk". Annabeth ignored this comment and continued on.

"Like all my plans, it worked, but Percy still looked startled. I asked him if he was okay and he said that Rachel was the only real girlfriend he had and he didn't know if he'd really get over her. So my brilliant mind came up with an even worse plan to get back at Rachel, which basically involved making her jealous. Percy decided sense he didn't really know any single people at the party to hook up with that I should be the one to help him make Rachel jealous. So we went inside, found Rachel in the kitchen, and decided that we would kiss within visibility of Rachel. I don't actually know if we made her jealous or not, all I know is that when I kissed Percy I felt fireworks go off inside my head. I know it sounds stupid, and at the time I couldn't believe it, but something made me want to keep kissing him. We moved into a spare bedroom and closed the door and didn't even realize that we kept kissing way after Rachel couldn't see us.

"Did you do it?" Piper asked?

Annabeth blushed "After a while of kissing I reminded him that Rachel couldn't see us more. He said that he hadn't even noticed and be both were blushing a lot and half laughing and then I did something really stupid and asked him if it was wired that I had enjoyed it. He panicked a bit and didn't say anything for a few seconds."

"Classic Percy" Piper remarked "He's always awkward in situations like that."

Annabeth nodded in agreement "By then I felt like my face was on fire, but then Percy did something even more unexpected and kissed me again. And I kissed him back, and one thing led to another and…"

"Wow," said Piper "that sounds like it's right out of a romance novel. How long has it been sense then?"

"Two years" said Annabeth. "Afterwards we kind of just didn't talk about it. Percy got a job at an aquarium in New York and I got a job at the firm and by then we lived together, but then about a year ago it happened again. This time we were both really stressed out and we were on the couch doing work and I kind of started crying. Percy tried to get me to calm down but I wouldn't so he ended up kissing me to shut me up and one thing led to another and we ended up hooking up again. The next day we agreed to talk about it and somehow we decided that it took both our stress away and that we could do it again, but only to forget things, and that this would be the last time we really talked about it and that we would kind of just do it and move on. So things started off slow, it happened maybe once a month, but recently…" Annabeth trailed off

"Recently what?" Piper asked

"Recently it's been happening a lot more. Like these past two months we've done it at least three times a week, sometimes more, sometimes more than once in the same day." Piper raised her eyebrows.

"So what's your problem?" she questioned.

"The problem is I think I'm getting feelings for him. Actually come to think of it I think I've always had feelings for him I'm just worried that romance could permanently ruin our relationship." Piper smiled sympathetically at Annabeth,

"From the sound of it I think he has feelings too. You guys are best friends; I think you can handle anything. I know you guys get in bad fights but you always make up. Why would it be any different with romance between you two?"

"I guess" Annabeth said thoughtfully

"My recommendation is to bring it up. Wait till the time is right, but don't hookup with him again until you talk to him, got it?" Annabeth smiled.

"Thanks Pipes," she said "there's a reason you're one of my best friends too." Piper smiled

"Well I wish I didn't have so much experience with the subject" she said, "I really just want to find _the one_." Piper continued "I'm thinking maybe Jason Grace."

"Jason Grace?" Annabeth asked in bewilderment "The one that works the floor under us?"

"That's the one" Piper smiled

"I have to go now," said Annabeth shaking her head in disbelief. "I think I want to talk to Percy today."

"Good idea." Piper said, "And keeps me updated on what happens!"

"I will!" said Annabeth putting on her coat and walking out the door.


	2. Too Late?

Annabeth sat on the subway thinking about what she was going to say to Percy. Being a planner, she mapped out every possible thing she thought Percy might say and she came up with responses to them. She didn't exactly know what a relationship could hold for both of them but she knew she wanted to try it out. Piper was right, Percy and Annabeth's relationship was strong enough to go through almost anything. Feeling better about the whole issue Annabeth walked into her apartment door with confidence. But that's when she heard something she wasn't expecting, moans. Not just any moans, moans that Annabeth clearly recognized as Percy's. Annabeth's stomach turned, Percy hadn't hooked up with a girl in weeks. What had happened that made him want to hop back in bed with someone else? Did Percy not feel the same way about her? Feeling confused, lost, and a bit angry Annabeth went to the living room, plopped down on the couch, put on some headphones, cranked up the music to as loud as it would go, and started sketching buildings.

Things like this really put her at ease, especially when her and Percy had had arguments. The last time she had to do this Percy and her had previously had a fight so bad that it resulted in various household things flying across the room. Over time it turned into something they both laughed about, but at the time it was one of the worst fights they had ever had.

Annabeth didn't think that she could laugh about this later though. _Why do I feel this way anyway? _She thought. _Technically we aren't even together, I can't control who Percy sleeps with and has feeling for._

…..

The next day Annabeth woke up curled on her bead with a blanket neatly tucked around her. _How did I get here? _She thought. _It must have been Percy, but why would he do that? _Shaking her head she threw on some clothes and walked sleepily to the kitchen.

"whoa" she said to herself stopping halfway. Sitting at the table was a crazy haired girl with bright red hair. "Do I know you?" she said.

"Hey Annabeth" said the girl giving a small wave "Rachel, remember? College?" Annabeth narrowed her eyes remembering. Rachel Elizabeth Dare was the girl Percy dated for one and a half years, the one who led her and Percy to kiss for the first time in the first place. Annabeth decided that now wasn't the time to yell at Rachel for breaking Percy's heart. Instead she put on a fake smile and exclaimed,

"Oh, Rachel! It's nice to see you again. What brings you around to New York?"

"I'm opening an art show down here for about a month." Rachel replied. " Technically I wasn't planning to come for another day, but I was so excited for the show I decided to come early. I was going to stay in a hotel but then I ran into Percy and he offered to let me stay here until today."

"Oh, how nice" said Annabeth, even though it wasn't a nice thing at all. Looking over at the kitchen Annabeth realized that Percy was cooking. _Shit_, she thought, _he only cooks when he's had a really good night_ _in bed with a girl. _

"Bon Apitit!" said Percy sliding a plate of pancakes onto the table in front of Annabeth and Rachel.

"Nice shirt" Annabeth commented

"But I'm not wearing a shirt" said Percy looking down at his bare chest. "I only have boxers on" Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"You are so oblivious sometimes" she said. Realizing Annabeth's sarcasm Percy gave Annabeth a smirk and said

"Then I'll be completely oblivious to your hunger and eat all your pancakes"

"Hey" Annabeth said playfully snatching two pancakes "They're mine". Percy smiled but then turned his attention to Rachel and started to talk about New York and her art show. Annabeth looked down trying not to look jealous and in the end decided to focus all of her attention on her pancakes. When she was done she brought her plate to the sink, and went to her bedroom to get a change of clothes_. Hopefully Rachael won't be a regular thing_, Annabeth thought. _Maybe I'll talk to Piper about everything. _Walking out of the bedroom Annabeth felt slightly better, however, that feeling quickly passed as soon as she stepped outside her door and saw Percy and Rachel messily kissing goodbye. After what seemed like forever, they broke apart and Rachel stepped outside of the door. Percy turned around to walk back to his room when he caught sight of Annabeth.

"You okay?" he asked

"Yeah, I'm going to go to work, maybe we can meet for lunch?" Annabeth asked. Percy shifted around on his feet.

"Umm" he said, "I'm kind of meeting Rachel for lunch today" he said

"Oh" said Annabeth trying not to sound hurt. "Well, see you tonight I guess"

"Yeah" said Percy scratching his head. "Um be safe?" Annabeth laughed and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm sure I can handle myself"

"that's not what I meant" said Percy

"I know!" laughed Annabeth before closing the door behind her and letting her smile drop. Something in her chest hurt. _Why _now? Annabeth thought.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm planning to update this once a week, hopefully every Friday.  
**


	3. Sparks

The next evening Rachel was still with Percy. This time things had cooled down a bit, they were watching a movie, although Percy was stroking Rachel's leg while they were watching it. "Want to join us?" Percy asked

"Nah" replied Annabeth "I'm going out with Luke again"

"Cool," said Percy in a nonchalant way, "have fun" Annabeth walked outside into the brisk air. She had lied to Percy, she wasn't going out with Luke. Instead she went to a small coffee shop and sat in the corner and did work. It was kind of lonely, but nice. She definitely got a lot of work done when she wasn't thinking about all the new drama in her life. After a while she decided to order another round of coffee and got up, to her surprise Luke was sitting across from her. She couldn't help but let out a yelp of surprise.

"Wha-what are you doing here?"

Luke smiled sheepishly "Sorry, I was going to do something, but you just looked so into your work that I decided to not say anything"

"Oh" said Annabeth unsure of how else to reply.

"Were you going to get coffee?" asked Luke

"Um, yeah" replied Annabeth

"Let me buy," he said with a grin.

"Um, sure?" said Annabeth. They both sat down a few minutes later holding fresh hot coffee. Luke, Annabeth noted, was looking rather sharp, still wearing his suit from work. His beach blond hair was combed to the side and his bright blue eyes were glistening. She looked down at herself and blushed at how terribly she was dressed. Really she just had on a plain green t-shirt and jeans, with her hair pulled into a messy bun.

"So what brings you here?" asked Luke

"I actually come here a lot, it's a good place to think"

"Really?" said Luke looking surprised. "I come here a lot too, it's strange that I've never seen you here"

"Yeah," said Annabeth. That was the start of what Annabeth later considered a very good evening. They talked about their old college and how it was strange that they never talked when they had so much in common. They talked about work and food and all their talking made Annabeth feel more at ease than she had been in a while.

So when finished another cup of coffee and talked for another hour(or two, Annabeth really lost track) Annabeth agreed to let Luke walk her home. After finally reaching the apartment door they both stood there awkwardly for a moment. "Thanks for everything," said Annabeth, "I really had a fun time" Luke didn't say anything but instead leaned down and kissed her. Breaking away for a moment he muttered "No, thank you," he said. Something in Annabeth made her want to scream. Luke was so polite and nice and handsome and she should like him like she before, but she couldn't.

Kissing him hadn't given her the same spark that kissing Percy had. However, something inside of her-some sick twisted part of her wanted to show Percy that she didn't need him. So instead of just going inside, she leaned up to Luke's ear and whispered "You should come inside," grazing his ear. The next couple of moments were a blur to Annabeth. She remembered stumbling inside kissing Luke, she remembered seeing Percy's surprised look on the couch and how it made her kiss Luke deeper. Annabeth remembered the clothes falling off, the aggressiveness of Luke's hands, the moans she tried to make extra loud to allow Percy to hear. She remembered waking up early feeling good, with a tinge of guilt. Making sure to push any guilt of Luke out of her head she walked to the kitchen and made waffles. To Annabeth's pleasure, Percy woke up first.

"You seemed to have an eventful night" he said grabbing a waffle off the serving platter and taking a bit of it."

"As a matter of fact I did," said Annabeth, "And don't eat the waffles until I'm done" she added.

Percy decided to ignore Annabeth's scolding and took another bite of his waffle, "So are you guys like, a thing?"

"I don't know," said Annabeth truthfully.

"Cool" said Percy, "As long as I still get to go to that annual fancy-shmancy architect party. Their food tastes like heaven". Annabeth smiled,

"Sure seaweed brain, you can go to the party."

"Yes!" said Percy taking the last bite of his waffle. It was then when Luke walked in. Percy quickly muttered something about going to work and ducked out the door. The morning with Luke was almost as nice as the evening had been. They ate breakfast and went to work together. They passed Piper, who raised an eyebrow at their hand holding but didn't say anything, much to Annabeth's gratitude. Luke kissed her goodbye and they agreed to meet for lunch. The whole time it felt like it should have been amazing, but it wasn't. Annabeth couldn't get Percy out of her mind. She thought about his touch, his smile, his eyes, and how tomorrow, she would go to that architect party and see him in a suit, and for some reason that thought made her stomach flutter.


	4. Party

After work, Annabeth told Piper everything. Biting her lip, Piper thought for a moment. "So the real question is," she said "who do you want?" Annabeth was startled for a moment and after briefly thinking she said "Percy". Piper's face got a little darker.

"Then my advice is to stop using Luke. You can make Percy jealous in other ways. We have that architect party tomorrow, so let's go shopping."

Annabeth nodded in agreement.

...

The next day Annabeth got ready at Piper's house. Percy had agreed to pick Annabeth up at 6 o'clock, which left Piper and Annabeth two hours to get ready. Piper insisted that it was plenty of time, but Annabeth worried that it wasn't. Of course in the end Piper was right, she usually was when it came it fashion. Annabeth stared at the mirror in awe, she was wearing a sea green gown that made her grey eyes pop out, and her golden hair was pinned up in an elegant bun.

"I still can't believe it Pipes," Annabeth said "For someone who pretends not to care a lot about their physical appearance; you sure are good with that kind of stuff."

"Thank you" said Piper shrugging,"I try," Just then there was a knock at the door. Annabeth's eyes widened

"How do I look?" Annabeth asked anxiously

"Relax," said Piper, "First off you look fabulous, and second, it's Percy, since when have you worried how you look for him?" Annabeth was about to reply but Piper opened the door. Percy stood there in a suit that fit him surprisingly well.

"Wow" he said looking at Annabeth "You uh, you look great"

"Thanks" said Annabeth trying to sound like his stare didn't make her heart jump up in the air. "You don't look to bad yourself."

"Wait for me!" called Piper, "You're forgetting that I'm the only one with a car!"

"Right," Percy said bitterly under his breath "And it's a freaking red corvette". Annabeth snickered

"Well maybe you should also get a rich father and a high-paying job"

"Oh shut up" said Percy playfully nudging Annabeth.

"Hey!" she yelped, "I have heels on! You're going to kill me!"

"Better for me," replied Percy, "then I'd get the whole apartment to myself"

"Okay, let's go" said Piper before Annabeth could insult Percy back. Once arriving to the party they all checked their coats and got glasses of champagne.

"Where are the tiny sandwiches?" Percy asked, "Those things are so good"

"They'll be here in a bit, the party's just starting." said Pier

"Meanwhile, we should dance." Annabeth chimed in. Percy shrugged and took her hand.

"You know," he started" this really isn't my kind of music."

"That's because it's classical" Annabeth said, "I'm pretty sure you fall asleep every time this stuff comes on". Percy shrugged

"I can't help it,"

"Whatever, Seaweed Brain"

…...

After dancing Annabeth went to have a few business chats with people. She was talking to a potential client when Piper came up behind Annabeth and whispered "Emergency, Percy, three o'clock. You go, this is a business talk. Talking is my thing, I can take over." Startled Annabeth looked in the three o'clock direction and saw Percy flirting a little too obviously with a girl. Except, Annabeth felt like she knew that girl, after staring for a moment she realized that it was Lucy O'Brian, the girl Percy used to drool over in high school. Annabeth's eyes narrowed as she walked briskly to where Percy was. Giving her best fake smile she turned to Lucy and asked,

"Can I borrow Percy?"

"um sure" she said sounding confused.

"I'll be right back," said Annabeth putting on her best fake smile and grabbing Percy's arm.

"Hey, what's going on?" he yelped. Annabeth didn't reply until she had dragged Percy to an empty conference room.

"What's going on?" demanded Annabeth half-yelling "Is that you can't just start something with a girl and then leave them for someone else! How do you think that's going to make them feel? Rachel probably thinks you guys are dating or something! Even if you haven't established an official relationship with her, you can't just go and hook up with another girl!" Percy looked surprised, but then his face softened.

"You aren't talking about Rachel, are you?" he asked softly

"Of course not Percy!" said Annabeth felling tears run down her cheeks.

"But you know what? It's my fault. I shouldn't have thought we had something when the feelings obviously weren't returned." Annabeth tried to stifle her sob as turned to leave.

"Wait" said Percy. Annabeth turned to face him and tried to wipe the tears off her face.

"I did, I mean I do feel the same way. I just, I thought you didn't want a relationship with me. I thought I was starting to like you like that, way too much, And so I saw Rachel and I thought she'd be a good reason to stop hooking up with you, and then you and Luke had your thing and so I thought that you really didn't want me, and after seeing you tonight and how beautiful you are I just had to get you out of my head and—" Annabeth stopped him mid sentence by kissing him hard on the mouth. He responded by deepening the kiss and wrapping his arms around her. After what seemed like an eternity Percy whispered

"I love you" Annabeth was taken aback. They had definitely said I love you to each other before, but this seemed like the other kind of I love you. After biting her lip Annabeth replied "I love you too" The words held countless possibilities for them. It meant that, as Annabeth and Percy left the party in a cab and went home they were excepting the fact that they were willing to risk their friendship for something more. It meant that as pieces of clothes fell around their apartment and they aggressively fell into bed, they really did love each other that way. It meant that in the morning Annabeth wasn't worried about their plan and friendship, she was just happy they were really together.


	5. Deleted scenes

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So really this is all I have planned for this story. Here are some deleted scenes that I really really loved but couldn't think of a way to incorporate them. Hope you enjoy!

1.

Realizing that Percy wasn't in bed with her, Annabeth went to the kitchen to see what Percy was making. She came into the kitchen to find him leaning over the counter sifting flour. She attempted to sneak behind him and scare him but stoped halfway realizing that he didn't have pants on. "Um, Percy?" she asked stifling her laughter. Percy whirled around making Annabeth laugh even harder.

"Where are your pants?" He looked down and realized that he was wearing absolutely nothing. Red started to creep in his cheeks,

"I um, forgot them?" he squeaked. Annabeth laughed even harder.

"Hey," he said, "stop laughing! You were the one who took them off last night."

I recall doing a lot more to you last night" replied Annabeth. "And" she continued leaning up to whisper in Percy's ear "You don't need any pants for what I plan to do to next,"This time Percy laughed. Annabeth looked confused for a second trying to see what was so funny in her attempt to seduce Percy.

"That's nice," said Percy after his laughing died down a bit, "But you might want to fix your bra". Annabeth looked down to find the sports bra she was wearing was completely backwards. This time it was Annabeth's turn for her face to turn flushed.

"Tell you what" said Percy, "I'm going to run and get some boxers on and you can turn your bra around and then we can start over and pretend nothing happened.

"Fuck that" replied Annabeth taking her sports bra off, lets do it now.

Percy smiled "My pleasure," he said and leaned down to kiss her.

2.

After taking the elevator downstairs Percy and Annabeth called a cab. The car ride home was torture for Annabeth. When they were both teenagers in high school they used to play this stupid game where each person took turns placing their hand on uncomfortable places. Percy started it, really, he put his hand on Annabeth's knee. Annabeth responded by placing her hand on Percy's leg, only a little further up. They kept taking turns making their way up each other's legs trying to suppress their giggles. Finally Annabeth had gotten to the point where she was inches away from Percy's crouch. In high school, this is where they would stop. But this wasn't high school.

Annabeth decided to go for it and placed her hand on his crouch making pathetic flirting faces. It was kind of a half-joke half-serious kind of action, and it was definitely worth it. Percy immediately yelped and scooted away from her. "Hey," he said in somehow yelling when whispering. "No fair, it's kind of hard to control myself at the moment. Annabeth smiled. "Just trying to give you a preview of what's to come." It was pretty dark, but Annabeth was sure she saw Percy's cheeks turn bright red. He's such a dork, she thought. When the cab finally dropped them off at their apartment Annabeth took the keys from her purse and took her sweet time trying to find the right key.

"You torture me" Percy said leaning next to the door. When Annabeth finally opened the door she went inside and threw her belongings on the counter.

"I don't know" Annabeth yawned pretending to be tired. "I think we should just go to bed."

"Oh come here" said Percy pulling her to him and kissing her.

"I think we can both agree that we've waited too long" Stopped trying to tease Percy and she kissed him back

"Way to long" she agreed.

...

That night was entirely different than any night they had had before. Everything was so aggressive. Percy, who usually asked her permission before doing anything further and often took things at a medium pace, had not held back tonight. Everything they did seemed desperate, Annabeth longed for more of Percy, and Percy in turn completely gave himself to her, something that it seemed he had never done in bed before. And to tell you the truth, it was incredible for Annabeth.

Percy and her moans filled the room, and Annabeth was pretty sure they were up all night cuddling and kissing and doing other things. The next day Annabeth called in sick, and so did Percy. For the first time in a while Annabeth felt truly at ease. In the morning(which was really the afternoon) Annabeth was so happy she decided to make breakfast. "Mmm, French toast" Percy said. Annabeth looked up at him and smiled. After leaning up to kiss him she realized that unlike with Rachel, Percy came out to breakfeast stark naked. "Where are your pants?" she laughed "I don't need them" he replied. He then leaned up to her ear and whispered "I don't need my pants for what I want to do next." Annabeth wrapped her arms around her and kissed him and Annabeth ended up focusing her efforts in other business rather than in making french toast. As a result the toast started to burn. Percy and Annabeth got so distracted that they didn't even know until the smoke alarm went off.

"Okay," said Percy "Maybe this is a sign that we should get out of the house." Annabeth said.

"I think your right, the place smells like smoke anyway."Percy replied. The two ended up opting out to go to a breakfast place. "Hey," said Percy "I just realized that this is the first date we've ever been on"

"I think" said Annabeth "That I'd also like to have many, many more"


End file.
